OUYA to Begin Shipping to Kickstarter Supporters Next Month

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

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OUYA Kickstarter supporters, it’s time to get excited. Backers of the new Android-powered console can expect their units to begin shipping on March 28th, according to CEO Julie Uhrman, who notes that supporters should “Keep a lookout in your inbox for an email from us. It will have your tracking number and estimated delivery date. Might take a few weeks to get to everyone. We have a lot of OUYAs to ship!”

In addition, she also announced a plethora of news surrounding the console. For starters, and perhaps the biggest piece of news besides the ship date, is the addition of thatgamecompany (developer of the critically-acclaimed Journey) co-founder Kellee Santiago to the OUYA team as a leader for developer relations. “We’ve been looking for someone to lead our outreach to developers, someone who really ‘gets’ how developers work, someone who can help devs bring their most creative, exciting work to OUYA,” Uhrman says. Santiago had her own comments, stating that, “OUYA gets it. This is the first console company that really understands how important it is to remove the barriers to development. By freeing up the development process, OUYA is opening up new doors in console gaming.” Considering the amount of innovation thatgamecompany has injected into the industry, this will no doubt be a strong addition to the OUYA team.

Uhrman also announced some new titles that will be coming to the platform. Kim Swift, who has worked on such titles as Left 4 Dead and Portal, will be working with developer Airtight Games (makers of Quantum Conundrum) on an exclusive for the OUYA. Fans of Papo & Yo can get excited, as developer Minority Media is working on an unnamed “adventure puzzler” to be released this Fall, which will also be the first title to use both the OUYA’s touchpad and controller buttons simultaneously. Tripwire Interactive, of Killing Floor and Red Orchestra 2 fame, are working on a new title called The Ball, which is slated for release next month. Lastly, those who have been looking forward to developer nWay’s free-to-play action-RPG Chronoblade will be happy to know that it will be making its way to the OUYA. “ChronoBlade looks great, and the skill-based combat system puts the “action” back in action-RPG,” Uhrman notes.

nWay’s Free-to-Play Action-RPG Chronoblade in action.

To wrap up this swarm of OUYA news, Urhman also announced the winners of the CREATE 10-day game jam. These titles are:

After a huge Kickstarter campaign that saw nearly $8.6 million raised last year, the OUYA console is currently on track for a formal release sometime this June. The unit will cost $99.99 and is currently available for pre-order. If you haven’t already, you can pre-order yours now on Amazon and GameStop. Already have yours pre-ordered? Looking forward to the OUYA? Let us know in the comments below.

[Former Volunteer] Dan is looking to pave his way through the game industry. Known on the Internet for many years under the moniker of "MegaXtreme", he runs his own blog and has worked as a moderator on Koei Warriors. Besides his obvious love for video games, he also indulges in anime and some movies, has a rather uncontrollable sweet tooth, thinks turtles dressed as ninjas are awesome, and can be a bit of a hot-head. His favorite franchises include Mega Man, Dynasty Warriors, and Final Fantasy.

I’m not a fan of the whole “release a new console every year” mentality. I know Ouya is cheap, but if a new Ouya comes out every year, I think it’d be easy to see keeping up with it being far more expensive than just buying a traditional console.

madmofo145

Even ignoring expense, it goes against the theory behind a “console”, which to it’s backers was a device that would stay static for at least a number of years. If they want to get past mobile game paradigms, they need to treat their console differently then a mobile device.